An empty decision
Bush league: Vince Young about to be robbed of the Heisman (again)
Vince Young needs to move into the Heisman winner's picture when Reggie Bush isstripped of the award.
When Reggie Bush losses this it should go somewhere ... not be left in limbo insome type of attempted morale example.
More Heisman heartache is headed Vince Young's way.
Yahoo! Sports is reporting that former USC running back Reggie Bush will be stripped of his Heisman Trophy, but rather than giving the award to runner-up Young, the Heisman trust is leaning toward leaving the honor vacant for the 2005 season.
Which would be another dumb decision in a series of bad calls in this case. If you're going to retroactively punish Bush for accepting cash and gifts while he played for the Trojans (which is dubious in itself considering how rampant underground deals are in big-time college sports), you cannot just pretend the 2005 season didn't happen. Leaving the Heisman vacant for a year for the first time in the award's 75-year history doesn't provide any moral high ground.
It just robs a worthy honoree.
Young made it clear he felt he should have won the Heisman based on what he did back on the field in '05 — and later made USC and Bush pay for the slight in the national championship game. He says he doesn't really want any part of getting the honor this way. (No major athlete is going to throw stones in an improper benefits case like this. Young knows the system that Bush came up through better than most.)
But just because Young will not campaign for the Heisman, doesn't mean he shouldn't get it. It doesn't even matter if he won't physically take the statue — put his name in the record books.
If the Heisman trust wants to make some dubious public relations stand by stripping Bush, it needs to recognize Young. Why should the accomplishments of the University of Texas star be essentially erased as well?
Young was never caught cheating. Bush was.
Leaving the award vacant does not prove anything but pettiness.
